The Irish surnames in use today are underpinned by a multitude of rich histories. The name Doneghyn originally appeared in Gaelic as O Donnagain. The first portion of the name is probably derived from "donn," which means brown, while the second portion of the name is probably derived from and ancient Irish personal name.

Early Origins of the Doneghyn family

The surname Doneghyn was first found in County Cork (Irish: Corcaigh) the ancient Kingdom of Deis Muin (Desmond), located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where they held a family seat at Muskerry, later moving to Limerick, Kildare and Dublin.

Early History of the Doneghyn family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Doneghyn research.Another 227 words (16 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1300, 1395, 1412, 1413, 1634 and 1715 are included under the topic Early Doneghyn History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Doneghyn Spelling Variations

The archives that survive today demonstrate the difficulty experienced by the scribes of this period in their attempts to record these names in writing. Spelling variations of the name Doneghyn dating from that time include Donegan, Donnegan, Doneghan, Donneghan, Donagan, Donnagan, Donnaghan, Dunnegan, O'Donegan, O'Dunnegan, O'Donnaghan, Dongan, Donegin, Donnegin, Donnagen, Donagen, Donnegen, Donegen, Donnigan, Donigan, Dunnican, Dunican, Dunnigan, McDunnigan, McDonegan, Dongane, Dongin, Dongen and many more.

Early Notables of the Doneghyn family (pre 1700)

Notable among the family name at this time was John Donegan (died 1413), a medieval Manx prelate. After holding the position of Archdeacon of Down, he held three successive bishoprics, Mann and the Isles (Sodor), then... Another 36 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Doneghyn Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Doneghyn family to the New World and Oceana

The 18th century saw the slow yet steady emigration of Irish families to British North America and the United States. Those early Irish settlers that left their homeland were typically moderately well off: they were enticed by the promise of a sizable plot of land. However, by the 1840s, this pattern of immigration was gone: immigrants to North America were seeking refuge from the starvation and disease that the Great Potato Famine of that decade brought. The great numbers of Irish that arrived to the United States and the soon to be Canada were instrumental in their quick development as powerful industrial nations. An examination of early immigration and passenger lists uncovered many early immigrants bearing the name Doneghyn: Thomas Donegan, the Earl of Limerick, who became Governor of New York from 1683 to 1691. Patrick Donegan settled in Maryland in 1742; Andrew, Charles, Christopher, John, Mathew, Patrick, Phillip, Thomas Donegan, all arrived in Pennsylvania between 1839 and 1878.